Don Stewart :: How Is God Viewed in the New Age Movement?

How Is God Viewed in the New Age Movement?

When the God of the Bible Is Rejected – Question 15

The New Age Movement is not actually one single religion but rather a collection of various beliefs. Since it is the result of a combination of different beliefs, it can be hard to define or pin down. However, there seem to be a number of beliefs which are held by all New-agers. This includes specific beliefs about the existence of God and the nature of human beings. These beliefs can be summed up as follows:

1. Everything in the Universe Is Labeled God

In the New Age Movement everything is part of one entity. This one entity is often labeled as God. However, God in New Age thought is an impersonal force. This force is in every human being as well is in all parts of creation. Consequently, there is no distinction among the New-Agers as to God has his creation.

2. Humans Are Progressing toward Godhood

In the New Age Movement, it is humans who are the central figure, not God. Indeed, the idea of a personal God who exists independently of humans is rejected. Instead, each of us is on our way to a type of godhood. New Agers accept the theory of evolution in the natural realm as well as in the spiritual realm. What this means is that we are all evolving spiritually as we are evolving biologically. We are evolving into some sort of godhood.

3. There Is No Such Thing as Right or Wrong

The logical conclusion of accepting the idea that each of us is some sort of a god is that there is no such thing as an objective standard of right and wrong. We make our own rules. Therefore, sin does not really exist. Truth is what we make it. Everything is relative. What is true for you may not be true for me.

4. There Is No Personal Accountability to Anyone

The next step which logical follows is that there no personal accountability for those in the New Age Movement. Why should there be? If each of us is a god who makes up the rules then we are accountable to nobody but ourselves. We do not have to answer to anyone.

5. There Is No Need for Jesus Christ to Save Us

The last point logically follows the others. Since there is no personal God who has given us a standard of right and wrong, and that we ourselves are divine beings answerable to no one, then there is certainly no need for salvation in the Christians sense of the term. Therefore, Jesus Christ is looked upon as an example of the potential which is in all of us. He is not seen a Savior which each human being desperately needs. There is no judgment for humans, there is no heaven, no hell.

This briefly sums up some of the main beliefs held by those in the New Age Movement.

Response to the New Age View of God and Humanity

We can make the following response to the New Age view of God and humanity:

1. God Is Distinct from His Creation

Contrary to the New Age Movement, the Bible says that there is a personal God who exists. Furthermore, Scripture makes a distinction between the Creator and His creation. Indeed, they are not part of one entity. Scripture thus separates God the Creator from the things He has created.

In addition, the creation is never personalized. In other words, the sun, moon and stars are never seen as objects that have some type of personality or will. They do not think and feel on their own. They are created impersonal things.

2. Humans Can Never Become God

The New Age Movement assumes that humans can be equated with God. Again, the New Age Movements blurs the distinction between God and His creation. It is true that humans are distinct from non-living things as well as from other living creatures. However, we are not God. We do not have the power to create. Neither do we have the power over life and death. This belongs to God and to Him alone.

As far as the theory of evolution is concerned, the Bible says that humans are not getting better or becoming more highly evolved. To the contrary, Scripture says that humans were originally created perfect and that the human race has fallen from this original perfection. Therefore, the progression of the human race is not toward perfection but rather toward imperfection. The biblical picture of humanity is just the opposite of the theory of evolution.

3. God Has Provided a Standard Of Right and Wrong

According to Scripture, truth is not relative. Indeed, it is absolute. The God of the Bible has provided a standard of right and wrong for humanity. This standard has been set down for us in His Word. From the Bible we know how to behave properly. Therefore, we find that there are such things which are right and there are other things which are wrong.

4. We Are Personally Accountable for Our Actions

Since there is a God who exists, who is distinct from His creation and who has provided a standard of right and wrong, we humans are accountable for our actions. We have to answer to Him for our sinful deeds. We do not merely answer to ourselves.

5. We Desperately Need a Savior

Finally, because we are fallen creatures who are held accountable for our actions against a personal loving Creator/God, we are in desperate need of a Savior to be saved from the judgment of hell. The only way in which a person can get to heaven is through the Person of Jesus Christ. He has died as a substitute for us. Jesus took upon Himself the penalty for our sins so that we do not have to suffer for them.

One must believe in Him to have eternal life in His presence. Jesus offers this gift of salvation to all who will place their trust in Him.

This sums up the New Age Movement and its views with respect to God and humanity. Obviously, the different perspectives are in complete conflict in all of their main points. They both cannot be true at the same time. Somebody has to be wrong.

Summary – Question 15
How Is God Viewed in the New Age Movement?

The New Age Movement consists of a combination of beliefs which are at variance with the Bible. Indeed, it contradicts every major doctrine of the Christian faith.

For example, New Agers do not believe in a personal God who created the universe. Instead they see the entire universe as some sort of godlike entity. Furthermore, rather than believing in some type of God who is distinct from us, New Agers hold that each of us can attain some type of godhood. In fact, we are constantly evolving into that state.

Since humanity is evolving into a godlike state we answerable to no one. We decide our own fate. We determine our own destiny.

Therefore, there is no ultimate standard of right and wrong because we set the standard. There is no accountability for our actions because we are the final judge of what is right and wrong for ourselves. And there is no need for a Savior because there is nothing we need to be saved from. So, there will be no judgment of the human race. This means there is no heaven or hell after this life is over. This is the New Age position.

In response, the New Age view of God and humanity is at odds with Scripture. The God who exists is a personal loving God who created the universe. The universe is not part of one divine essence.

Furthermore, humans, as created beings, cannot attain some type of divine status. We will never become the Creator. Rather we will always be the creature.

Moreover, we do not create our own standard of right and wrong. Rather we must obey the standard God has set.

However, all of us have fallen short of God’s perfect standard. Therefore, as lost sinners we need a Savior. Jesus Christ has provided the only salvation available for the human race. He has died for the sins of the world so that we do not have to come under condemnation. Those in the New Age Movement need to come to Christ and trust Him as their Savior. If they do believe in Him, then they will escape the judgment of hell because the Bible does indeed teach that there is a hell for those who reject Christ.

When all the evidence is in the Christian faith and the New Age Movement are at odds with each other in every conceivable way.